Microphone and music stands are constructed for disassembly such that the stands may be transported easily. When assembled, these stands are awkward and not easily stored so that virtually all such stands may be disassembled. The base is very heavy compared to the shaft so that when upright the microphone is very stable. This disproportioned weight becomes a further impediment if the microphone stand is transported without disassembly.
Entertainers tour this country playing on successive nights in locations that may be in the next city or across the country. In such instances, the stands are disassembled each night and re-assembled each day. Quick and easy disassembly and re-assembly provides an important advantage.
Existing microphone stands are disassembled by unscrewing the stand shaft from the base. The issue is that there are many threads with a very fine pitch. The result is a time consuming and frustrating disassembly and assembly. The fine pitch is useful to make the pole to base combination very secure with no wobble or play between the pole and the base. This threaded connection is very rugged as well because the base is heavy (over 5 pounds) but the pole and the base are often picked up during a performance. If the pole and base became detached or loose fitting the performance would suffer--hence the very stable, rugged construction.
Music stands are often made of foldable metal straps that store and transport well. However, some such stands are built similarly to microphone stands and these stands will benefit from the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,693 to Browne, issued on Sep. 10, 1991, entitled MICROPHONE STAND COUPLER, discloses a bayonet-type coupler. This invention provides a quick disconnect microphone pole from a base. The microphone pole has a hole to accommodate a lever actuated cam mechanism. The cam lever interacts with the base to secure the pole to the base but allows actuation of the lever to quickly disconnect the pole from the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,182 to Hoblingre, issued on Jul. 24, 1990, entitled RAPID FASTENER OF THE BAYONET-TYPE, discloses another quick disconnect mechanism. This invention is an axial spring loaded bayonet. A pole is held to a base by the spring load. By twisting the pole relative to the base against the spring load the pole is positioned for removal.
Another example of prior art is found in a product named QUICK KLIP made by TMP. This is a device embodying a quick disconnect of a microphone from the microphone shaft or pole. The device has a spring loaded cam built into a device that may be screwed or threaded to an existing microphone. A mating tubular device is attached to the pole. The plug has a groove and an anti-rotating design. The tubular device has a spring loaded cam that, when the plug is inserted into the tubular device, engages the groove and prevents disconnecting the two pieces from each other. A button connected to the cam may be pressed, and working against the spring retracts the cam to allow disengagement of the microphone from the pole. This device is light weight and relatively fragile. It is built for the light weight of the microphone itself or another light weight pole extension.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a smooth mating of a microphone stand, the shaft and the base, where the pieces are guided for quick assembly and disassembly of a microphone stand.
It is another object to provide means for refitting existing microphone stands to incorporate quick disassembly and re-assembly as disclosed in the present invention, yet to make the apparatus rugged to withstand handling during performances.
It is another object to provide a quick disassembly microphone stand that provides a twist off mechanism to further facilitate disassembly.
It is another object to provide a keying arrangement to provide a known orientation of the pole to the base of the microphone stand.